Libraries: They Are a Changin'

There are almost 120,000 libraries throughout the United States -- including school and public libraries -- according to the American Library Association. More people are going to those libraries, using traditional services like books and journals for research, and newer services like computers and English as a Second Language classes.

The way libraries function in communities is changing, and that vision is conflicting with an older conception of libraries. However, the core is still the same: be the university of the people, and provide access to information.

Issues Tank hosts Theresa Schliep and Kacie Candela spoke with Jim Neal, president of the American Library Association, on the shifting role libraries occupy in 2017. Later, we speak with Michael D.D. White, co-founder of Citizens Defending Libraries, a group working to fight the sale and shrinkage of libraries here in New York City.